The island's first plantation houses were built as early as the 17th century. The central house, known as the owner's house ('kas di shon') or big house ('kas grandi'), followed a style similar to urban mansions, often adding a large terrace to the front and back. Adjacent buildings included one or more spacious warehouses ('magasinas') to store the harvest, and a cistern to collect rainwater from the roof.

Domestic slaves lived in small stone huts near the main house; field slaves were allotted a small piece of land where they constructed their own simple huts of branches, mud and straw. These rural houses ('kas di kunuku') were often named after the materials used in their construction, for example, Thatch House ('kas di yerba') or Sorghum Stalk House ('kas di pal'i maishi'). After emancipation most rural blacks continued to live in similar dwellings.

Over the centuries most of these simple structures were reduced to mere rubble. You can see reconstructed slave huts and get a feel for how the slaves once lived at Hòfi Pachi Sprockel.

The reconstructed Sorghum Stalk House Museum ('Kas di Pal'i Maishi') gives a feel for the rural life of folks from yesteryear. The typical country cottages, though made of more durable concrete blocks and cement, retain this basic style.